I went to my first model car show last month, the NNL North event in Inver Grove Heights, MN. Came home with some kits I’m going to attempt to build up. Each of them will have some unique challenges I’m very much looking forward to overcoming.
The 73 Cougar is going to be a pro-touring car. The 69 Cougar Eliminator was a $5 parts kit, missing window glass, tires and interior tub. I thought the GTX was a complete kit for $15, but turns out its missing the taillight lenses, door handles, and headlight glass. So that one will become a custom hot rod. I’ll improvise the missing parts and find what I can in my parts stash.
But first up will be the 69 Cougar, check it out… the prior owner grafted on a 69 Boss Mustang roof, soooo, I can’t - not build it up.
I picked up an interior tub and windshield (from a 71 Boss Mustang) on Ebay. I’ll fabricate a rear window and find some tires and wheels in my parts stash.
Did some body work. Sanded it down with 100 then 800 grit and a sanding stick. Puttied the roof seems and filled the Cougar’s trunk lines that will not be used with the new roof. Scribed the new custom trunk lid lines. Used some sprue glue on butt joints from the grafted roof to strengthen it a bit more (although it was pretty tight, one of the A pillars came loose). Its looking much better.
Started test fitting the interior tub, chassis and body. The chassis is hanging out below the rear fenders a bit. Looks like the C pillars of the fastback roof are contacting the upper back seat area in the tub. I will need to carefully correct that to make sit in there a little deeper. I plan to carefully sand/grind out the inside of the C pillar and see if that will be enough to fix it. I would rather not sand/grind out the rear seats and back shelf if I can avoid it. I’m finding it helpful the interior tub is molded in red, it helps me see where the contact points need to be addressed.
More progress. I used a Dremel to grind down the inside of the C Pillars and ended up also grinding down the edges of the interior tub at the rear seat on both sides. I also used 100 grit sand paper to finish carefully. Looks like it seats much better now.
Another update on this custom Cougar Fastback. Covered the rear window shelf with masking tape to eliminate the stepped shelf molded into the tub. Completed some assembly of the body including mirrors and front valence.
Primed the body with Mr. Surfacer 1000. Did some additional sanding and filling on the graft seems along with some sanding on the C pillars and rear fenders. Then re-sanded and primed the bare spots.
Painted the interior tub with flat black primer. Then masked the floor and rear shelf and sprayed it with Mod Podge matte clear coat. It gives the seats and dash a deeper color with the appropriate shine for a vinyl interior of the period.
Got some color on it now… scratched the hood so that will need to be sanded and repainted, but the body is looking good to me. The color is just what I had in mind for this car.
I found the '69 Firebird fastback body in my box of bits but it is looking a bit old and worn. This was done 40 years ago or more. I like the Cougar shape better.
Here is where I am with the interior so far. Needs a little detailing still. I used brown craft paint for wood grain effect, chalk pencil for the gages, silver gel pen for chrome details so far. Used a dull coat on the chrome shift knob.
My first attempt at using a photo etched seat belt kit. Made a mess with the glue , and don’t know how to fix it, but learned a lot in this try. I will get better with practice. Still I like having the seat belts added for this build.
The '69 Cougar would also have a shoulder strap for each front seat passenger, attached to the inside roof rail, and it would couple to a buckle on a strap identical to the seat belt.
I have always used a commercial red glazing putty as a filler similar to the red ‘Bondo’ brand as I tended to have a tube on hand for real car body work. I think the rear quarters on the '69 Firebird fastback had too much bulk, and I agree it did resemble a Javelin or AMX.
Hi Bob, thanks for the incite, it’s very much appreciated. I will look into the shoulder straps too.
Were they the version that folded up and stored on brackets above the doors?
I used sprue glue for filling some gaps and Mr. White Putty for the finish putty work. Some of curves and small space between the fender tops and roof pillar are really hard to get into properly fill and sand. I did my best. This one is my first experience with substantial body work.
Yes, the shoulder straps could be slipped between the small chrome spring retainer and the headliner. I think the idea was to keep them out of the way when the front seat was folded forward for rear seat access, but as I recall few people used the straps anyway. If you add the shoulder straps I’d just let them hang down. They had already been removed from my first Mustang fastback when purchased.
I’ve used sprue goo but have found some kit plastics can be softer than the goo making sanding difficult.
The Mustang fastback, or sportsroof in '69, could be ordered with a fold down rear seat and an opening hatch into the trunk to fit things like skis. In your Cougar the trunk should be long enough to do the same!.
My first car was a 71 Chevelle. It had the shoulder straps folded and stowed above the side windows on clips too. I never used them even though I’ve always used seatbelts when driving or riding in front.
I’ve etched (extended) the Mustang trunk lines out all the way to the taillight assembly and filled the Cougar trunk lines, but I’ve decided not to cut open the rear shelf for a Mustang type hatchback interior. I didn’t have a good idea on how to build interior panels in the trunk, so I’m going with the large rear shelf and wanted to retain the structure that shelf provides in this kit… I’ll call it a tonneau cover over the deep trunk extending below the back window.
I found the Firebird fastback interior and noted I had done the same as your Cougar, with a long flat shelf behind the seats. I had cut the front fenders off the '71 Mustang and with a modified hood fitted them to a '69 Mustang fastback body. That made the '71 roof available for the Firebird. I didn’t see the modified '69 Mustang in the pile so I expect it is long gone.
and find some tires and wheels in my parts stash.
and wish me luck, I’ll need it.
Thanks for posting pictures of it. 
, and don’t know how to fix it, but learned a lot in this try. I will get better with practice. Still I like having the seat belts added for this build.
